German Federal Court of Justice finds wife of mother is not automatically legal co-parent of newborn child

Oct 31, 2018

On October 10th 2018, the German Federal Court of Justice rendered its decision XII ZB 231/18, finding that a mother’s wife is not automatically legal co-parent of a newborn child. In this case, a female same-sex couple married following the legalization of same-sex marriages in 2017. The Court found that the paternity law of the German Civil Code (which can automatically grant such status of legal co-parent) only applies to heterosexual couples. The Court further found that the German Civil Code on this point does not violate the country’s Grundgesetz (Basic Law) or the European Convention on Human Rights.